The New Hampshire primary has propelled many a presidential hopeful onto the White House. For a brief moment, the nation’s eyes will focus on the Granite State. Votes will be counted. Speeches will be made. But more importantly – headlines will be written. And the winners will be those who beat the expectations game, who emerge with that precious “momentum” and who perform well in their short turn on the nation’s stage.

The primary has broken candidates and made candidates. Some of the defining moments of our political culture have happened in New Hampshire.

Democratic front-runner Ed Muskie famously “teared up” as he ripped the state’s powerful daily paper for attacking his wife. Those tears were portrayed as weakness. George McGovern came close to winning and went on to seize the Democratic nomination.

Ronald Reagan showed strength taking charge of a debate three days before the primary, “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!” he told a reluctant moderator who had attempted to cut him off. Reagan went on to become president.

Stung by his narrow defeat, an angry Bob Dole accused George Bush of lying about his record on election night. The dark, scowling Dole earned the sore loser/hatchet man moniker that followed him the rest of the campaign.

In 1992, a faltering Bill Clinton, beset by scandal, dubbed himself the “Comeback Kid” seizing the momentum and the nation’s attention – despite coming in second place.

New Hampshire has had a disproportionate impact on our presidential election system. I would argue that the votes are irrelevant – representing less than 1 percent of what is needed to win.

Instead, it is the media coverage that matters. The expectations game that defines the “winners;” the momentum that candidates can take from New Hampshire; and those few moments on the national stage. That is the primary battle that candidates need to “win.”

Right now the campaigns are frantically scrambling to win the media framing battle that will play out on election night.

For the Hillary Clinton campaign it’s about lowering expectations – ie “Bernies’ backyard” – to win a “Clinton does better than expected” and “Sanders stumbles” headline.

For Bernie Sanders it’s about showing a viable candidate that “wins” two states in a row and can carry that momentum, that winner label into the next states, ie “Sanders wins big.” But the battle for what margin is considered a big win is highly contested. As it was in Iowa, with the Clintonites pointing out that Sanders lost in a state he should do well in, and Sanders talking points stressing that at one time he was 50 points behind.

On the Republican side, Marco Rubio strives to be the establishment alternative to Ted Cruz and Donald Trump – claiming “victory” as he did in Iowa despite coming in third. Since he defies all convention, it is hard to predict the Trump team’s media expectations game, other than being unpredictable. For the other candidates, seizing the mantle of viable alternative to Trump and Cruz is critical – beating expectations and carrying some momentum forward.

Regardless, Tuesday night in New Hampshire will be a defining moment in this election. The state is known for throwing a curve into the nominating process. But one thing is for sure, the primary being fought in the media and the candidate’s moment in the harsh glare of the camera’s spotlight will be more important than the final vote tallies.

Richard Watts, of Hinesburg, is a lecturer on media and policy studies at the University of Vermont.